Release of U.S. Senate CIA "torture" report still on hold

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The public release of a
long-awaited U.S. Senate report detailing the CIA's use of harsh
interrogation techniques could be held up for weeks as the
Senate Intelligence Committee and Obama administration negotiate
what material can be included in the document, the committee's
chairwoman said on Monday.

The committee had hoped to release its 600-page summary of
the report on the Central Intelligence Agency's use of tactics
many label as "torture" before Congress left for its August
recess, a target that was pushed to September as discussions
continued.

On Monday, as Congress returned from its five-week break,
Senator Dianne Feinstein said the document would not be released
this week, and might not come out before lawmakers leave later
this month to campaign for the Nov. 4 congressional elections.

That would push its release to mid-November at the earliest.

"Certainly it won't be this week," the California Democrat
told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. "We're still discussing
redactions, and it won't be released until we're satisfied that
we can have a comprehensive and understandable report."

Feinstein and other members of the committee's Democratic
majority have complained that the administration's redactions
are excessive. Republicans on the intelligence panel, who
largely boycotted the five-year investigation that produced the
report, have drafted their own critique of it and are said to be
happy with the redactions.

The roughly 600-page document that would be released is a
summary of a much longer committee narrative that will remain
secret indefinitely.

In August, officials familiar with the report said it will
conclude that the CIA's use of harsh interrogation after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks yielded no critical intelligence on
terrorist plots that could not have been obtained through
non-coercive methods.

Human rights activists and many politicians have labeled as
"torture" some of the physically stressful interrogation
techniques, such as waterboarding - or simulated drowning - that
were authorized under former President George W. Bush.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Ken Wills)